Comparison of Undergraduate Engineering Students and High School Students Solving Authentic Problems

Solving authentic problems is complex and includes multiple phases.It involves understanding requirements, communicating with sponsors, interpreting in scientific/engineering language, making project statements, figuring out key factors, brainstorming possible solutions, screening down the most feasible solutions, initiating design, optimizing parameters with compromises, iterating the whole progress, finalizing the best technical solution, and presenting the technical solutions to the sponsors.This progress might include building prototypes to demonstrate the feasibility of the design if required.To make these two groups comparable, the students are allowed to make proposals for their solutions using theoretical calculations, simulation, finite element analysis (FEA), computer-aided design (CAD), or just hand drawing with trial-and-error methods.The differences between high school and college students were studied in many ways except how they address and attempt to solve authentic problems.The present paper investigated these two groups of students as they were facing authentic problems.Since the two groups are vastly different in their knowledge level of mathematics, physics, and mental maturity, the present paper will only cover some comparable aspects, including the logic, steps, procedures, screening, group contribution, confidence, and seeking help from others.The author of the present paper served as the instructor of senior capstone projects in mechanical engineering at a public university on the southeastern coast of the United States for many years and also had experience instructing high schoolers selected from more than 35 high schools to solve some authentic technical problems that came from daily life.The unique experience allowed the author to compare the differences between those two student groups and the findings could help the educators to understand the discrepancies in our curriculum transiting the high schooler to college study.The research results will give instructional suggestions for the future early STEM curriculum development and the current college engineering revolution.